Construction of a 65 million US dollars (about 162.7bn/-) wastewater treatment plant in Dar es Salaam is well underway, regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila has said.
He said at the launch of the Airtel 5G and 2Africa Cable Landing Station in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the project at Mbezi Beach area was in an initial stage of construction.
"So far, the execution of the WWTP has already commenced at the initial stage under the Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Authority (DAWASA)," said Mr Chalamila responding to a question from President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the launching ceremony.
The project under construction at Mbezi Beach area is financed by the government in collaboration with the World Bank. It is expected to reduce environmental pollution through safe treatment of waste water.
The 16,000 m3/day waste water treatment plant will have state-of-the-art engineering and technologies to enhance operational and maintenance costs, improve sludge quality and minimise the overall carbon footprint.
In April this year, DAWASA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kiula Kingu, said the plant would be designed to fit in almost half of the allocated area, optimising land usage and maximising savings.
He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Metito's scope of work involves three years of operation and maintenance for the waste water treatment plant with the full participation of DAWASA staff members in all operational sections of the treatment plant.
"Access to water and sanitation in Tanzania can transform the economic outlook in Dar es Salaam and propel its social development and sustainable growth, we have trusted Metito, a world-leading provider, to develop the new WWTP in Mbezi beach area and we are confident that the impact that will be created once the plant is operational is highly cost-effective and brings great value to the local community," said Kingu.
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Upon completion of this project, it will curb the challenge of inadequate waste treatment in Dar es Salaam, the financial hub of the country.
Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, where the population is projected to reach more than 10 million people by 2030.
In the context of growing urbanisation, sanitation in the city is in acute crisis with severe social and environmental consequences including floods.
According to the RC, the scale of the human waste problem is vast, impacting human health, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems, and even climate change.
The RC said this challenge demands serious measures to solve. Already, he said, the regional authorities had stepped in to solve the problem through the construction of the wastewater treatment plant.
Moreover, he said Tanzania has renewed its commitment to increasing access to clean water by adopting the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation for all) targets, which the UN set for 2030.
